seral

1. not comparableBeing dried or withered.

comparative more seral · superlative most seral

1. biologyOf or pertaining to a sere.
   1. biologyTending to exist (in a given site) mainly in a particular, temporary phase of ecological succession, and to later be surpassed by something else (which is climax).

      Lodgepole pine is a good example. On poor sites such as the obsidian sands of Yellowstone Park it is climax. On nearby zonal soils it is seral to subalpine fir.

      1979, Proceedings of the ... Convention of the Society of American Foresters, page 160

      1 more example

      If the dominant species exhibit a reverse J-shape age or size frequency curve, one may perhaps conclude that the area is climax, whereas if the curve is bell-shaped the species if probably not replacing itself and may be seral (Figure 15.3).

      1987, J. P. Kimmins, Forest Ecology, page 392